invictus

A friend recently went and saw Invictus in the theater and I was curious what that meant exactly and so I looked it up. It was a poem written by William Ernest Henley, an English poet. I wasn't sure if this was what the movie title's inspiration was drawn from, but the premise seems to align especially to the poem. Not only was it relatable to the Nelson Mandela sports movie, but it spoke to my own experience. And although these lines are far bigger than how they relate to me, they moved me enough to share them with you.

Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the Pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate:

I am the captain of my soul.